Cutter chain



April 30, 1946. J. R. CARTLIDGE I 5 CUTTER CHAIN Filed Jan. 18, 1943INVENT BY wq AM Patented Apr. 30, 1946 PATENT OFFICE "CUTTER CHAIN JohnR. Car tlidge, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Cincinnati MineMachinery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio ApplicationJanuary 18, 1943, Serial No. 472,691 7 2 Claims. (01. 74-251) Myinvention relates to cutter chains for mining machines and particularlyto the pintle means for fastening the same which joins the bit carryinglink to the connecting links.

Inasmuch as cutter chains of the above type aresubject to very heavy andrough wear, it has been found advisable to position the pintles intheside bars of the bit carrying link so that they will not revolve.This type of pintle and the mannerof retaining it in position aredisclosed and described in United States Letters Patent 2,280,502,issued April 21, 1942, to Edwin P. Steng'er.

It is an object of my invention to provide a pintle retainer for usewith a non-revolving pintle, such as described in the above patent, andwhich prevents the pintle from endwise or longitudinal movement after ithas once been placed in position.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a pintle andretainer wherein the retainer completely seals the pintle in positionand thus prevents the entry of moisture with its resulting tendency toetch away any part of the pintle and permit it to slip out.

These and other objects of my invention, which will be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon readingthese specifications, I accomplish by that certain con struction andarrangement of parts, of which I shall now describe an exemplaryembodiment. Reference is made to the drawing which forms a part thereofand in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cutter chain including a bit carryinglink and connecting links.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the pintle shown in Figure 1 andbefore being placed in position.

Figure 3 is a cross-section of the cutter chain and a link with mypintle and. pintle retainer in position, taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 3 through the link, pintleand cast pintle retainer.

Figure 5 is a plan view of my pintle before the retainer has been casttherein.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a. cast pintle retainer.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention I provide a pintle having sucha cross-section that it will not revolve or turn in the spaced side barsof the bit carrying link and as exemplified by the pintle in the abovereferred to Patent 2,280,502.

In order to prevent my pintle from sliding longitudinally out of theapertures in'the side bars, I have provided a channel longitudinally inthe side of the pintle which doesnot receive active wear, and I providea countersunk hollow or bevel at the ends of this channel as well as oneor more indentures within the. channel. The portion of the apertureswithin the side bars registering with the bevel at the ends of thechannel in the pintle is also beveled in a some what similar manner asthat shown in Figures 1 and 2 of Patent 2,280,502. a

The pintle is inserted in place in a similar manner as shown in Patent2,280,502 and then an alloy, havingfa relatively low meltingtemperature, is poured into the space formed by the channel of thepintle and. theedge of the apertures in the side bars. Fromthis it isapparent that since the aperture in the connecting link is circular,that the complete space between the. pintle and the apertures in theside bars and the connectinglink will be filled withthis alloy. When thealloy hardens, it is apparent that the cast retainer will fill theindentures in the channel as well as the space between the pintle andthe circular aperture in the link, which willprevent longitudinalmovement of the retainer as well as of the pintle. Also, the head formedon the retainer by reason of the beveled portions of the channel willassist in preventing longitudinal movement of the retainer and thepintle.

I do not wish to be limited to any specific form of cast retainer or anyspecific configuration of the pintle, since it is apparent that numerousdifierent shapes may be used, and it is only necessary to have aperturesor cut-outs which, when filled with cast metal after the pintle has beenplaced in position, will prevent its longitudinal movement. 7

, Referring to the drawing, I provide as an exemplary embodiment apintle 4 having a channel 6 cut therein on its flattened face 5. I alsoprovide indentations l0 within the channel as can be clearly seen inFigures 2 and 5. The ends of the channel 6 are beveled as at 12 and theshoulder 8 of the side bar aperture contains a registering beveledportion II.

As seen from Figure 3, as well as Figure 1, the pintle 4 is insertedthrough the apertures I in the side bars 2 and through the circularaperture l3 in the connecting link 3.

Any alloy or Babbitt metal having a melting point sufiiciently low as toprevent changing the temper in the machined parts may be used. As anexample, Babbitt metal having a; melting point of 500 F. has been usedsuccessfully. The alpintle 4. It is also apparent that the portion [4 ofthe cast retainer which consists of frozen ale,

10y is so positioned in reference to the circular aperture [3 that it isnot positioned on'the ,active wearing surface of the :bearing"on-pintle.

In order to remove a pintle, it is necessary merely to drive the pintleonthrough with a sledge hammer. This, of course, shears portions of thecast retainer, which are relativelyscifth and permits easy removal. Anewpintle is then put in placeand anew retainer poured. j

7 As willbe apparent, it isposs'iblato place a channel onidifferentportions of the pintle. it is evenpossible'to drill a channel throughthe pintle and have branches'communicating with the space. betweenthecircular aperture [3' to the connecting'link'3 and the pintle 4. Itis also possibleyto use a channel which does not go' completely throughthe pintle, but merely'cormnunicates with oneend thereof anda closedaperture betweenthe side bars so' that-the pintle, the bearing surfaceof" the connectinglink, and the side bars; will form a" mold for theretainer.

I haveifound-that 'my novel retainer safely holdsflthe pintle-againstendwisemovement, and safely-retains it"in" position at all'timesduringthe'operation'of the cutter chain. I have also found that the use ofarelatively soft alloy-seals the channel and prevents 'excessive etchingof the cast-retainer 'due to the acids in the water contained :within amine shaft.

It is to be understood that modifications may be made in my inventionwithout departing from the spirit thereof and I do not intend to limitmyself otherwise than in the claims which follow.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

'1; In ,a'mini-ngymachine cutter chain, avbit carrying link: haying:vspaced side. bars permanently held in position between which aconnecting .link is introduced, said side bars having aligned segmentalshaped apertures and said connecting "link having a circular aperture, apintle having asegmentalcross-section positioned within said raperture,:means .for preventing longitudinal V :movement'..oit said'lpintle whichcomprises a 1ongitudinal channel in the flat surface of the pintledefined by the chord of the segment, pockets in the, pintle:communicating with said channel and.

alloy metal within said channel, pockets and said circular apertureunfilled by said pintle.

'2. In a chain-or the-like; relativelypivoted structures, one comprisinga-perforated' link, and the other a pairof 'perforated-bars, one'lyingon each side of thelink with the perforations of the several elements inalignment, a pintle extending through thesaid perforations'and pivotingthe structures, said pintle-being cut away at one side,and'a'pintle'-retainingmember in'the formof a cast-in-place structure:of" relatively lower'melting point metalextendingthrough saidperforations with said pintle, and'having such engagement with saidpintle and said'barsfasto prevent relative longitudinal movement orvsaid pintle retaining member; and saidtpintlethaving at least onerecess-extending inwardly toward itscenter'from the cut-away portion,saidp'intle retaining member also filling said recess,

" JOHN 'CARTLIDGE.

